Children don’t have to be coached to know how to attempt to weasel out of responsibility for their misdeeds. They figure out denial (“Not me”), blaming (“It was her!”), playing dumb (“Huh?”), and pleading ignorance (“I dunno”).

Parents see right through those dodges. And so does God. On the day of judgment he will get a lot of arguing, but his decisions will all be final. Nobody will be able to shout at him that he or she didn’t know: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).

Even people who have refused to go to church and refused to crack a Bible know that they are in someone else’s world. The brilliance of the design and execution of the universe, its stunning billions of galaxies of stars, wild array of vegetation, astoundingly diverse animal world, and complex miracles of human beings tell anyone with an open mind that there is a Creator. The consciences that exist in every human being also give testimony to our accountability to that Creator.

“I didn’t know” isn’t going to work on Judgment Day.